Theo and Cissy walked along the city road in the middle of the night. Theo carried the head of Crawler Queen on his belt and was heading to the adventurer guild. He told Lyana, who was carrying an unconscious Vivi, to head back to the inn first.
Occasionally he could see strumpet on the street trying to get a customer. He smiled looking at those trying to seduce him despite him being covered with blood and filth.
"Cissy, you wait outside okay?"
"Okay."
Theo entered the adventurer guild. "I want to meet with the branches' master." Theo said as soon as he reached the adventurer guild counter.
"I'm sorry sir, but unless there's an appointment I ca-" Before the officer can answer, Theo brought the severed Crawler Queen's head on the table.
"Is that a.."
"Yes it's a Crawler Queen's head, And if that doesn't mean anything to you, you don't deserve to work in the adventurer guild. Call the guild master!"
"I-I'm sorry sir, but the master is out right now." He answered promptly.
"I can substitute for him." A female voice came from the second floor. Theo and the officer turned their head to see the source.
Theo froze in place. Sweat broke out from all over his body. On the second floor, a blue haired woman stood. From her neck, hung a necklace with the carving of a dragon.
"V-V-Vex. Long time no see." Theo said. He faked a calm attitude, but that didn't work.
"Meet me at the master room.... Theo." Vex flashed a smile before walking away.
Theo came to the master's room a minute after that. It was a meeting room with a huge table in the center. Twenty chairs were placed around it, all were empty. A woman in her late twenties sat on of the table holding a few papers in her hand.
She has an attractive face complemented by her light blue hair that reached her neck. Her body was fit and well toned, while still being feminine and sensual.
She wore a golden colored armor that covered only her breast, her small part of her leg, and her shoulder. It was another enigma of this world. How did female armor worked despite only covering small part of their skin?
"Theo Gladium. Mmm. Mm. How long has it been?" She asked.
"F-four years" he stuttered.
She looked at her paper. "Level 30"
"31." He corrected.
"Making you one of the highest level adventurers on the continent, but somehow still a Chimera rank.... hmm, well, well, often get a personal guard and escort request from noble women. I wonder what kind of service they told you to do. Recently given the medal of highest honor by the kingdom after saving Princess Anastasia." She put down the paper. "Pretty impressive. So what business do you have here?"
"So I take a quest this afternoon. A normal Crawler cleaning quest. Moderate difficulty, sub-moderate pay, usual, but then this showed up." He raised The Crawler Queen's head.
"Crawler Queen. That's an ultra rare monster."
"And this." He brought out a bulging sack. It was made of leather and was water proof, but the red color of the blood could be seen even from outside. "136 pairs of Crawler's ear. You can recount it later."
"We could reward you a silver coin for each ear and ten gold coin for the Queen's head."
"And a promotion to a Hydra rank." He said with sour voice.
She raised her brows. "It's rare for you to not haggle. especially with women."
"I'm fucking tired Vex. Please."
"Deal." She answered promptly.
Theo put the head and the sack on the table. "I'll return for the reward tomorrow." He turned toward the exit.
Before he could exit the room, Vex spoke. "Not going to flirt with me like usual? Or is there another woman waiting for you outside? Maybe in an inn?" She asked. Theo stopped his feet but didn't speak. "Are you still afraid of me Theo, after I completely and utterly dominated you in bed? Did I hurt your pride so much that you leave me alone for four years? Be a man Theo. C'mon, accept your loss and accept the fact that there's someone better than you."
"You laughed at me Vex. And I told you that I left not because of the sex. I-"
"For Ketu sake Theo. I laugh every time I have sex with any men or women. That's just me." Theo opened the door. "Okay, I'm sorry okay?" She apologized.
"I'm tired Vex. I'll return here tomorrow. We'll talk again later." Theo exited the room.
"What a child." Vex chuckled once Theo left the room.
As Theo walked outside the adventurer's guild, Cissy approached him. "How is it going?"
"It's fine. I'm able to get a nice price for the trophy." Theo took the 100 silver he got from the job and gave it to Cissy. "Here."
"E-Eh? But It's meant for you, for helping me. I can't accept it."
"Honestly Cissy, I don't need the money. I already have a lot. I took the job to help the small people. I know how bad their living condition is." He said with a smile. He was lying, of course, he did it because he has nothing else to do.
Cissy took it and gripped it tight. There was a look of admiration in her eyes, admiration toward him. She bowed her body. "Thank you so much! And I"m sorry for being angry at you this morning! I thought you are just another adventurer who only cares about themselves and about women. I'm sorry! If there's anything I can do to fix my mistake. I will do it."
He smiled. Her prediction was on the spot. "It's fine Cissy. I'm used to be seen like that, especially when you look at my adventuring companion." She was still bowing. "But if you feel the need to make amend, why don't we go have a drink or two. After I wash my body in the river of course."
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Theo and Cissy sat on a table in a tavern. Theo had washed his body in the river and Cissy had clean her body back home. There was two empty bottle on their table, and two more unopened.
The tavern there was bigger but more crowded than the one in Aeston. There were more wenches and prostitutes taking advantage of the situation. The bards were also richer here.
Cissy was slightly drunk while Theo was still far from it despite drinking twice the amount as Cissy. He was waiting for this moment before asking Cissy a more personal question. "Cissy, why do you act like men and dress like men."
Cissy looked at him with somber eyes. She drank another glass of alcohol beverages. "The men from my workplace, the guards, and the soldiers. It was because of them, those shitty men, very different than you Sir Theo."
Theo raised his brows. "How so?"
She drank another glass. "They look down at me and mocked me for being a weak woman. They told me to go back to the kitchen or to go back to bed and spread my leg. So I prove it to them I can also be men like them, and I can do it better!"
"But by doing so you lose to them you know."
She stared at him. "WHAT?! How can that be? I prove to them that I'm better than them."
"By becoming them, by trying to become men. You should have been yourself. Accept your femininity and used it as your strength. Take examples of Greci Hartman of the royal guards and....well, Vex from the Miracle. They embraced their feminine side and they are among the best of the Kingdom's knight."
"But they cut their hair short."
"Only at shoulder's length. And for the ease of combat, not to look like men."
She looked down. "So what I did all this time was wrong?"
"It's not too late to change."
"But how?"
"I don't know how, but I can teach you the advantage of being a woman. Teach you a thing or two."
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The next morning he sat on the Guild master's room inside the adventurer guild. Vex was sitting opposite of him. "Here. Theo, you're now a Hydra-rank adventurer." She handed him his plate.
"Okay. Now here's your payment for all the monster body part you collected." She handed him a pouch full of coin
He took the pouch and opened it. The reward should be 10 gold coin and 272 silver coins, or the equivalent of 12 gold coin and 72 silver coin. He counted it all and it was exactly 12 gold and 72 silver coin.
Theo was uncomfortable. Vex has been acting strange and super formal to him. Was it because of their conversation the day before? "What are you trying to do Vex?"
"What? Is it so strange to you that I'm trying to do my job?"
"Without flirting? Yes."
"Oh. So if I'm not flirting with you, It's strange, but if you don't flirt it's okay." She sighed. "Look Theo. If you want us to return like before, you should also apologize. You left me for four years without a letter or even a word. You can't just dump a woman and expect everything to return to normal the next time you met."
"I'm not dumping you Vex, there's no 'US' We're only a friend."
"Who have sex almost every night. If not the morning also."
Theo tapped his finger on the table. "Okay. I'm sorry." He said earnestly.
"Good. Apology accepted." She smiled. There was no longer any trace of anger from before. "Since you have apologized, I give you a reward."
"If it sex I have to decline."
"No. It's information about a very fine woman. Greci Hartman. Your Idol's daughter." She said with a smug smile.
His eyes opened wide. "Sir Arslan's daughter, you know her?"
"I'm a friend of her."
"Friend, or 'friend'?"
She sighed, disappointed. "Too bad we're just a normal friend. In case you want to get near her, don't even try to mention Sir Arslan. never. She hated her father's fame."
"Why?"
"Why? I mean you're a strong and hardworking person, but everything you do is eclipsed by your father's fame. No matter how hard you try, your father still eclipsed you at everything. Won't you be angry or hate your father if it's like that? Not to mention her father is nonexistent in her childhood. There's still a lot more reason why Greci hate her father, but that's for another time."
"Well, thank you Vex." Theo stood.
"Not a kiss or anything? Really?"
He smirked. "No. My women are waiting for me."
"Theo." She called him before he left. Theo turned. "Care for a drink tonight? You know, for old times' sake. Talk about what we missed from each other these past 4 years."
"Sure. Why not. For old times' sake."